2023 BECE Social Studies Chief Examiner’s Report: Guide to prepare for 2025 BECE effectively

With the release of the 2023 BECE Social Studies Chief Examiner’s Report, teachers of the subject and prospective BECE candidates must carefully examine the report and use it to prepare for the 2025 BECE. While the report pertains to the previous curriculum, it remains a valuable resource. Failure of teachers, schools, and candidates to pay close attention to its content could lead to the repetition of similar errors by candidates in the next BECE.

Before proceeding, ensure that you identify the topics and sub-strands in the new curriculum from which the questions were derived. Revise related topics with your students. Teach your learners how to solve practical and application-based questions, and encourage them to write comprehensive answers that are rich in information. WAEC will often not set questions on topic areas where students demonstrated strength in the last two BECE examinations. Instead, it will focus more attention on topics and sub-strands where candidates demonstrated challenges.

WAEC can easily assess the same topics where candidates showed weakness, as indicated in the report. Therefore, teachers must strategise their revisions to address the issues highlighted therein.

Let us take a careful look at the 2023 BECE Social Studies Chief Examiners Report and how to use it to prepare for 2025 BECE

1. STANDARD OF THE PAPER
The standard of the paper compared favourably with that of the previous years. The questions were unambiguous and at the level of the candidates.

2. PERFORMANCE OF CANDIDATES

The performance of the candidates was satisfactory, with a substantial number of candidates performing above average.

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3. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ STRENGTHS
Candidates were able to:
(i) State ways rocks are useful to the human being:
(ii) give functions of the District Assembly quite adequately;
(iii) provide the obligations of the citizen;
(iv) highlight four ways in which the forest vegetation in Ghana can be preserved;
(v) state measures that can be taken to reduce the pollution of water bodies in Ghana;
(vi) define what a settlement is satisfactorily;
(vii) highlight ways in which the forest vegetation of Ghana can be preserved.

4. SUMMARY OF CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES

These are important and must be worked on by teachers and candidates ahead of the next BECE. These areas can easily be assessed by WAEC in future BECEs, including the 2025 BECE, if the topics are still in the new curriculum.

Some candidates had challenges in answering questions from the following topics:

(i) problems the rural areas of Ghana suffer from as a result of the migration of the youthful population to the cities;
(ii) ways of maintaining law and order in schools;
(iii) what Afforestation and Reforestation are;
(iv) the classifications of Human Resources;
(v) measures the government can take to ensure efficient use of human resources in Ghana;
(vi) reasons for which bad layouts of settlements are prevented;
(vii) calculating the time at town “A” on longitude 45° E, if the time at town “B” on longitude 0° is 9 am
(viii) functions of the District Chief Executive under the Local Government System of Ghana.

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5. SUGGESTED REMEDIES

The suggestions provided by WAEC to resolve the above are indicated below; however, teachers must also provide solutions based on the type of learners they are preparing for the BECE.

The Chief Examiner suggested that candidates must be given further assistance to be able to:
(i) discuss the problems the rural areas of Ghana suffer from as a result of the migration of the youthful population to the cities.
(ii) explain ways of maintaining law and order in schools;
(iii) help the students know the meanings of Afforestation and Reforestation;
(iv) state the classification of Human Resource;
(v) know measures the government can take to ensure efficient use of human resources in Ghana;
(vi) explain reasons for which bad layouts of settlements are prevented;
(vii) gain knowledge on how to calculate the time at town “A” on longitude 45° E, if the time at town “B” on longitude 0° is 9 am;

(viii) Explain the functions of the district chief executive under the local government system of Ghana.

We hope this 2023 BECE Social Studies Chief Examiners Report and how to use it to prepare for the 2025 BECE will guide teachers and learners.